The Toul Roka Village School and Library
Ali and the Provincial Minister of Education sign an agreement to begin building the BSD school.
In November 2011, Blue Skies Development secured land to build a school and library in Toul Roka, a rural village in the Kampong Cham province of Cambodia. The turnoff for the village is about an hour’s drive from the city of Kampong Cham, speeding you along a bumpy dirt road past rubber tree farms and lazy water buffalo.
Working with the village and provincial leaders to organize their donation of communal land in the village was an integral step in our process: we believe that responsible (and ultimately successful) development involves partnering with the community to promote their ownership and eventual leadership of the school.
Building on donated land fosters this vision. We are not simply “in” the community, but part of it. The site also shares land with the village pagoda, linking the historical means of schooling with our efforts to develop modern education practices.
We broke ground on this project in April 2012, beginning with construction of a library and office/study room, and completed the first classroom in August 2014 to begin formal teaching.
The Toul Roka School now educates over 120 children ages 5-12 from Toul Roka, as well as children from neighboring villages. Each day our students learn English, Khmer, and mathematics under the instruction of 3 teachers, and receive free tutoring in the library. With community support and growing demand from surrounding villages, Toul Roka School is ready to add more classrooms and a teacher dormitory–and you can help. The classrooms will provide increased instruction space for Khmer and English language studies, math, the arts, and skills training. Dormitories will ensure our three onsite Cambodian teachers have affordable housing and access to their students. A third boarding room will be reserved for visiting volunteers–English language teachers, skilled professionals, international students looking to make an impact–maybe YOU!
